Investing in People

Background | Goals | Tools & Resources | Case Studies

Investing in People Background

The three-year Investing in People project was awarded to the Canadian Society for Training and Development on May 4, 2007 under the Workplace Skills Initiative (WSI) of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC). Investing in People will develop world class evaluation tools and conduct case studies on 12 Canadian firms to demonstrate the value of investing in training. The chief
goal is to provide credible evidence of training’s positive return on investment (ROI) to encourage Canadian companies to invest more heavily in skills development. HRSDC’s funding will be leveraged by in-kind investments from the 12 industry participants. The Investing in People project will be led by Learning Designs Online—a Canadian leader in measuring and evaluating the business impact of training investments.

“A company’s human resource practices—its commitment to the skill and training of its employees—are far and away the most powerful predictors of improvements in companies’ productivity and profitability.”

—Australian National Centre for Vocational Education Research

“Investing in People provides an outstanding opportunity for Canadian learning professionals to demonstrate that training contributes to business outcomes. The return on investment case studies will not only quantify the business benefits of workforce development, but will provide the tools and resulting best practices for Canadian employers to apply in their own organizations."

—Lynn Johnston, President, CSTD

Key Player

Learning Designs Online (LDO) is an industry leader in the design, quality assurance, measurement and evaluation of learning. LDO helps organizations develop effective learning strategies and measure the impact of training investment on employee performance and bottom-line business results. Clients include Harvard Business School

Publications, Canada Revenue Agency, Canada School of Public Service, Canada Food Inspection Agency, Bell Canada, BCE, CIBC, Toronto Stock Exchange, Textiles Human Resources Council, and the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada. Company president, Dr. Gillis, is the founding Chair of CSTD’s Canadian ROI Network and the author of Quality Standards for Evaluating Multimedia and Online Training (McGraw Hill 2000).

Contact: Dr. Lynette Gillis, President, Learning Designs Online
t. 905.823.3367 e. lgillis@learning-designs.com

Investing in People is funded by the Government of Canada's Workplace Skills Initiative

Background | Page 1 of 4 | Goals